“Still, there’s such a thing as class time.”
“I said forget it.”
I was left completely dumbfounded. I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it and looked over the textbooks on the desk instead.
[Geometry II], [Advanced Differential Calculus]… What?
How am I supposed to teach any of this?
I’d assumed it would be at most a preview of middle or high school material. Isn’t this nearly university-level content? The packed schedule had already shocked me, but this wasn’t anything an eleven-year-old should be studying.
In the middle of it all, the little kid quietly lowered his book, then peeked just his eyes out over the top and stared at me.
“…I wonder if you’re too dense to even notice when something’s wrong.”
“When something’s wrong?”
“…….”
I asked again, but the kid just lifted his book back up without a word.
“Leave this manor. I don’t need a tutor.”
And that was that.
There seemed to be a kind of edge hidden in his words. I shoved the book out of his hands and asked.
“Why do I have to leave?”
“…….”
“What do you mean something’s wrong—”
“Ugh, seriously!”
When I kept pushing with questions, the kid’s expressionless face twisted, flushing red then going pale.
“You talk way too much, you white-haired old man!”
“White…?”
“Stop being so petty about it and just leave!”
At the sharp bite in his voice, I instinctively grabbed my own head.
White, white hair?
“How… how did this happen.”
The moment I got back to my room, I went straight to the attached bathroom.
Standing in front of the mirror, my tongue tied at the sight before me. My hair and eyes, which had definitely been jet black…
They’re white?
At some point, my hair had turned a faded silver and my eyes had shifted to a vivid blue. The fact that I hadn’t even noticed until the young master pointed it out — it was absolutely absurd.
I repeatedly tapped at the status window, pressing it to give me an explanation. Reluctantly, as if surrendering, a window popped open.
[Update: Character design change complete! Enjoy your new look.]
“I don’t want to, you little—!”
My original hair color was so perfectly black and cool. My second-to-last girlfriend, and the one before her too, had both raved about how hot my sharp features were with dark hair.
“Design changes are supposed to require player consent…”
I stared at the mirror again and again in despair.
The eyes turning blue, fine. But silver hair. This isn’t some fantasy world… well, actually, maybe it is.
I was a little sulky about it, but what could I do. Agonizing over something I couldn’t fix right now wasn’t going to change anything. It would be more efficient to focus on the immediate problem.
I paced around my room until well into the dark of night, turning the situation over in my mind from every angle. I’d practically skipped dinner. My mind was too unsettled for food to make it down my throat.
Still — that kid knows something.
He knew that something was off about this manor. Or perhaps even further than that — he might know what kind of incident was going to occur at the banquet opening next week.
In the Bloody Invitation game, there had been a description that the Duke’s son died in Stage 0, early in the game.
That incident, along with the Duke’s disappearance, had fanned the flames of fear among the guests even further. A helpless, suffocating dread — ‘Everyone connected to the host of the banquet has vanished.’
If the game’s story played out as written, the kid was probably a card the Duke intended to discard. Even his own child — left to die without a shred of mercy.
That meant he might not be a dangerous opponent, but…
Either way, nothing changes.
Even if the kid did know something, he was still a member of this manor and the son of a suspicious Duke.
There was no need to ask things like ‘Is there some kind of curse on this manor?’ or ‘Do you know what’s going to happen at the banquet?’ — no need to let them know I was on guard.
I checked the clock on the desk. Two-thirty in the morning.
I turned the door handle quietly.
During the day, maids and butlers wandered throughout the manor, making it difficult to explore freely. But at night — surely it would be fine.
I carefully opened the door — creak—
Even with as much caution as I could manage, the characteristic squeal of an un-oiled door rang out. Even in a detail like this, the horror game atmosphere bled through.
Before leaving my room, I opened the menu bar I’d launched in advance and tapped [Skills].
[Available Skills]
└ Sharp Eyes
I activated the Sharp Eyes skill.
The darkness in front of me brightened as though a flashlight had been switched on, and the tail end of the skill gauge bar began to shrink.
[Remaining HP: 97%]
What a stingy game, putting limits on even passive skills. I’d better explore only until my HP dropped below seventy percent. I narrowed my eyes, scanned the area around me, and got moving.
The second floor, where my room was located, had corridors stretching out to either side when you stood with your back to the central staircase, with a single right-angle turn along the way on both sides.
My room was positioned at the entrance to the right-side corner of the corridor. Directly across from it were the young master’s room and the study, just as the butler had said. And further in, guest rooms lined up one after another.
Going deeper down the left side of the corridor, two grand doors came into view. Based on the game I’d played, those were likely the Duke’s office and the Duke and Duchess’s bedroom.
Both were locked, making them difficult to check right now. I could try the lock-picking method I’d learned at my old job, but tampering recklessly risked getting caught, so I’d put that on hold for now.
Finally, the door near the central staircase connected to the annex.
I decided to start with the guest rooms, where no one should be.
Nothing particularly unusual.
I quietly shut the door of the second guest room I’d checked.
Tonight I’d sweep through the second floor like this, and later, once I got a feel for the situation, I could gradually expand my range to the first floor, third floor, and even the basement—
—…mm……hh…hh…mm……
Just then, the faint sound of crying brushed past my ears.
A chill crept up the back of my neck. I looked around, but the sound echoed throughout the entire corridor, making it hard to pinpoint the source.
The thin voice sounded like it could be a young child — or perhaps a woman.
…A child?
I moved quickly toward the young master’s door. I pressed my ear up against it and focused on listening.
…….
Silence.
Not here. I started to turn away, then hesitated.
It didn’t feel right to just let it go. Maybe there was some kind of clue here.
Besides, I was technically the tutor — and with an inexplicable sound of crying echoing around, it felt wrong to ignore a child.
Just check if he’s okay, then leave.
I quietly opened the young master’s door.
Perhaps because he was the young master of a Duke’s household, the room inside was spectacular. The guest rooms already had the feel of a luxury hotel suite, but this space was twice the size.
A plush chaise lounge and two tea tables. A large desk and bookcase that suggested the study wasn’t enough, along with a partition dividing the space.
Maybe because the room was extravagantly large for what it was, wandering through it alone in the middle of the night gave off an eerie feeling — like being alone in a living room late at night.
Quieting my breathing, I stepped further inside. I peered behind the partition next to the desk, and at last — a bed.
Let me see — is he asleep?
Right in the center of the wide bed, a small child was buried deep inside the covers.
Seen in the dark, it would look like peaceful sleep at a glance — but to me, with my vision fully lit, it was unmistakable.
“Unh……ah, ah, ah….”
The kid was burning up with fever, letting out a heat-soaked groan.
I hurried over and placed my hand on his small forehead.
He’s seriously burning up.
I should check his condition.
I turned off the Sharp Eyes skill for now — it was draining HP. Tap tap, I patted the kid’s shoulder lightly and whispered.
“Young master.”
“Ugh……mm….”
“He’s not coming around.”
I’d have to show one of the other servants. The servants’ quarters were in the annex, weren’t they. I wished there were some basic medicine on hand I could give him right away.
I gently pulled back the blanket. The bedding was completely soaked through with cold sweat.
I spread my arms wide to gauge his size. I wrapped one arm around his shoulders and slipped the other under his knees, then carefully lifted him.
“…Teacher?”
A small voice came from within my arms.
“You’re awake? Your fever’s really bad right now, so—”
“What’s… going on… why are you here—”
For some reason, the kid’s face gradually began to drain of color at the sight of me.
Just as I felt a flicker of puzzlement—
“I — I need you to leave.”
The child’s arms pushed hard against my shoulders.
“Just let me see you take your medicine—”
“No, no, no, leave, I have to go back—”
The child began to tremble in a way that seemed almost unnatural.
It wasn’t the shaking from a fever. It was clearly — the look of someone seized by terror.
And then.
“Oh Lord who loves the young— no, leave. Love all things of—”
“Mitchel?”
The child’s eyes rolled back, and the whites slowly began to darken to black.
“Be beside them, cherish the foolish things, for you who fear me — stop it, I, will fall, fall, fall into ruin—”
Words poured out of the child’s mouth in a rapid, breathless whisper. His pronunciation was too mangled to make out properly.
“Become one, become united, only those who are one — hurry, come and earn the right to—”
The voice deepened into that of an adult male, then shifted back to a child, then to an elder — changing moment by moment.
That grotesque voice churned around my ears. Sweat gathered in my palms.
I couldn’t understand what was happening.
The child’s body was blazing like a furnace. No — it was a furnace.
“Realize — rea — realize the words — ㅤleaveㅤ hurryㅤ speak with a sound mind, there is no dangerous, dangerous place—”
The smell of protein burning.
My arms wrapped around the child…… were being scorched.
The black of his eyes bulged out like liquid rising to the surface.
It pushed past the edge of his skin
ㅤ
and dripped
ㅤ
Do not be on guard, this place is safe, it is God’s temple, and paradise of the past and future, humans are happy—
ㅤ
down,
ㅤ
ㅤ
Look
at us
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
“Don’t look!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
My neck turned as if it were being controlled.
Two pairs of women’s Mary Janes were placed side by side directly behind me.
The sound of a heavy blade cutting through the air
ㅤ
—crack
